Editor's note: Plenty has been written about the financial troubles
that have plagued the Muskegon Heights schools and their resurrection as
the nation's first charter school district. This story about teacher Jodee Pascavis is part of an ongoing series that takes a more personal look at those changes.

MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI – With the end of the school year just over an hour away Tuesday, Muskegon Heights High School teacher Jodee Pascavis let out a big sigh of relief.

“It’s been up and down all year,” she said. “But we all made it through.”

The “we” she was referring to was herself and her students, pioneers of the nation’s first charter school district. It hadn’t been easy for any of them. Students had new teachers, new principals, new 90-minute classes and new rules to follow.

And Pascavis had new students whose trust she needed to win over. She watched as other teachers gave up and left. She adjusted as two principals came and went, placing her hope in the fact the third will come back next year.

Because that’s what Pascavis plans to do.

“I like the students here. I like the staff here,” the 39-year-old said. “I just hope it’s an even keel next year.”

Pascavis said she needed a job when she applied to work for Mosaica Education Inc., the management company chosen to take over the education of Muskegon Heights students. But she also thought it could be the right job for her. She said she found a knack for teaching students other educators considered “naughty.”

“I’ve always liked the challenging students,” she said. “I seem to have a good rapport with them.”

And challenge her they did -- at first anyway. With so many teachers giving up and quitting in the middle of the school year, Muskegon Heights students assumed she would too, Pascavis said. It’s tough to get close to a teacher if you think she’s going to leave you.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” she said. “They are going to push and test and see if you’re going to make it.”

It was the final hour of the final day of school and though it was Pascavis’ planning hour, kids were stopping by her classroom to say goodbye. There were hugs exchanged. There were promises to be back next year.

‘These kids are smart’

She grew up in Montague, a sleepy town 20 miles and a world away from Muskegon Heights. She knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was a freshman in high school.

“If I was to do it again, I would choose to be a teacher again,” she said.

But it’s not a profession that has offered her a lot of stability. She started out as an instructional aide working with at-risk high school students in Hudsonville. She landed her dream job teaching art and world history at Oceana High School, an alternative school operated by Shelby Public Schools.

“I loved every minute there,” she said.

But the school was struggling. After five years, she was laid off last year. The school ended up closing at the end of this school year.

She was looking for a job when she applied in Muskegon Heights. She was looking to make a difference.

“I want to educate the kids who really need it,” she said. “These kids are smart and they have so much potential.”

She was hired to teach world religions, history, government and Mosaica’s humanities program called “Paragon.” Paragon includes a lot of history, art, and literacy as well as some math and science. Every month, the students show off what they learned at “Paragon Nights.”

The themes of the Paragon Night in May were World War II and the Holocaust. Student-created posters lined the lobby of the high school auditorium, and they took turns taking the microphone to discuss what they had learned.

And in the audience were five parents at most.

When asked about the challenges facing her students earlier in May, Pascavis had buried her face in her hands. Some of them come to school hungry, she said. Some come with very low reading levels. Some come without support at home.

“Some of the stuff, I don’t want to answer because I don’t want to embarrass them,” she said.

‘You can’t fail’

She started each Paragon class with a warm-up writing exercise that involved answering a question she posted on the white board. Of course, it was to practice their writing skills. But the exercise also was designed to give Pascavis a glimpse into her students’ lives – into their motivations, fears and dreams.

On one day in late May, the question was “If you could make the decisions for Muskegon Heights High School, what changes would you make?”

Previous questions, posted in a corner for those who needed to make up missed work, were “How can you resolve conflict other than fighting?” “How do you want to be ‘seen’ by your peers, parents and teachers?” And “What has been your proudest moment so far?”

Pascavis teaches with a casual style. Her voice is soft, her lecture conversational. She empathizes with students whose classes are 90 minutes long, and allows them to come and go to visit the restroom or the water fountain.

“Some teachers teach in a way they learned,” said Mary Rose, who graduated this year from Muskegon Heights High. “She teaches us the way we learn.”

Tyler Briggs, who also graduated this year, said Pascavis allowed the students lots of time to make up missed work.

“You can’t fail this class,” she said. “There’s no way you can fail it.”

‘Why we’re here’

With school in Muskegon Heights finally out weeks after others, Pascavis will relish the shortened summer with her own children – girls ages 11 and 13. In late July she will return to work. She’ll be back in the classroom teaching on Aug. 12.

She’ll be working to gain the trust of her students that she said is key to them trying their hardest. The push will be on academics, and she hopes her kids will be ready for it.

Pascavis said dismal achievement test scores don’t reflect students learning in Muskegon Heights. She said students just never took the tests seriously. But next year, there will be a lot on the line with student testing. Mosaica’s contract to run the schools requires scores improve significantly.

“There’s a lot of work falling on us. All the pressure is on us; all the eyes will be on us,” Pascavis said of Muskegon Heights teachers.